INDIANAPOLIS Â? A bill that would eliminate township assessors and consolidate duties to an appointed county assessor passed the Indiana SenateÂ?s Local Government and Elections Committee 5-4 on Wednesday.

The bill includes an amendment that does the following:

Â? Allows elected township assessors to stay in office until the end of his or her term to assist the county assessor in the transition period. The new effective date also changed from Jan. 1, 2009, to July 1, 2008.

Â? Establishes a procedure to remove a county assessor from office who fails to adequately perform duties.

Â? Allows the county assessor to establish satellite offices throughout the county and requires the assessor to interview current township assessor employees for those positions.

Â? Requires the Department of Local Government and Finance to establish one computer program to be used statewide for assessing duties, to provide a uniform property tax management system for all counties.

After June 30, 2009, county assessor employees who perform real property assessing duties, must hold a Level 2 or 3 assessor-appraiser certificate.

The chairwoman of the committee, Sen. Connie Lawson, R-Danville, said the committee heard nearly nine hours of testimony during meetings in December and limited public testimony on Wednesday.

Lobbyists at the meeting generally spoke in favor of the plan with concerns about some of the amendments. Angie Dvorak, legislative director for the Association of Indiana Counties, asked that legislators ensure a due process system for county assessors who are accused of not performing their duties. This issue was brought up by several speakers and debated by senators. There was some concern that partisan politics could unfairly accuse and remove assessors from office.

Becky Williams, president of the Indiana Assessors Association and Franklin township assessor in Marion County, said consolidation isnÂ?t always the best solution and that a third of the stateÂ?s county assessors have only been in office for a year.

Â?How can you turn an entire county assessment system over to those people who donÂ?t have the experience?Â? she asked. Â?And to do this, by this summer? I can tell you right now none of you want to see the shape the assessment process is going to be in during the election period. Because I can tell you right now itÂ?s not going to be pretty.Â?

Williams said having an appointed county assessor isnÂ?t going to take politics out of the equation and said she was concerned how this would affect services to taxpayers. Judy Sharp from the Indiana County Assessors Association said computer software is expensive and could cost counties millions to implement. Sharp said the software should be able to interface with the county auditor and treasurer computers.

The bill will now move to the Senate floor for a second reading, where more amendments could be made.